I posted on here a little while ago for my first time asking information about a receiver and speaker set-up for my $2000 budget. After listening to a lot of speakers (many outside of my budget that I fell in love with and will aspire to get) I decided on the 5.1 SVS SBS-01 System. Since I watch movies and TV 95% of the time I wanted to pick a system that blended the sub nicely with the matched speaker set, and I believe the SBS-01 with the PB-10 sub did just that.

My problem is deciding on a receiver to drive these speakers. I have looked at all the big names (yamaha, pioneer elite, onkyo, denon) but the simple fact is I don't need a lot of fancy extras to be included in my receiver (but I do want a receiver from one of those brands). After reading the reviews on these speakers, it seems all the reviewers used a receiver in the $1000-1200 range.

Is there a receiver in the $500-700 range that will perform just as good as the more expensive types without the features that drive up the price? What about the $1000-1200 receivers make them better when it comes to powering speakers?